Category Archives: toronto raptors

The NFL has pushed all other sports news off to the side, so some may not realize the NBA regular season starts on Tuesday.

It’s not too late to throw some jellybeans on a few NBA prop bets. Prop bets have become individualized so much that you can bet on a specific person’s assists per game for a season. I just like to stick to a vanilla approach to NBA props. My favorite NBA prop bets are regular season over/unders.

The Boston Celtics boned up their roster this offseason. Can they win more than 54.5 games and hit the over?

Here are our 2017-18 NBA over/under season wins total picks for the Eastern Conference.

The NBA preseason just kicked off and the regular season is not too far away.

If I had to describe the NBA offseason with one word, the word would be MONEY.

It goes without saying that a lot of bad contracts were signed. A ton of money exchanged hands after the salary cap shot up to $94.143 million, an increase of roughly $24 million. I have a feeling NBA owners will want another ‘amnesty clause’ in the next CBA to bail themselves out from some of these deals.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference last season and are early favorites to repeat this season. Any sleepers out there worth a bet?

Toronto was the surprise team in the East last season. Their corps of young talent blossomed. They even traded Rudy Gay mid-season, which shed considerable cap space. Toronto GM Masai Ujiri helped turn Denver’s franchise around when he was in charge. He has quickly done the same in Toronto.

Can Toronto upset Cleveland and win the East?

We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.

Fantasy basketball just finished its first month of play. The toll of the season is starting to show its ugly face. A few major injuries occurred last week with Marc Gasol and Derrick Rose both suffering significant injuries.

Sports is all about opportunity and ‘the next guy up’, so Memphis and Chicago will look to the bench. Which players will benefit the most and receive more playing time?

On the other side, there are a few guys returning from injuries (Trevor Ariza & Tobias Harris). Which players on Washington and Orlando will they replace in the lineup?

Most of these players are owned in less than 50% of leagues (and some are owned in less than 10%). You should pick these guys up or at least keep a close eye on them.

Memphis hopes that he will fill the void left by the all-but-certain departure of O.J. Mayo. He will be in line to backup starting point guard Mike Conley.

Bayless, 23, has already bounced around the league and has yet to live up to his potential. He was a lottery pick coming out of the University of Arizona. He has not averaged more than 22.7 minutes per game in his career.

He is coming off his best season as a pro by averaging 11.4 points per game and shooting 42.3% from behind the arc. He played the 2011-12 season with the Toronto Raptors.

The terms of his deal are yet to be disclosed, we will update when they are announced.

Click On Icons To Share

The Raptors went out and made a splash this off-season by signing Hedo Turkoglu. They paid him a lot of money, but are they expecting to win now? Will they move Chris Bosh before the trading deadline or reach an agreement on a new deal? Can the new Raptors lead this team to the post-season? Here is the 2009-10 NBA Preview for the Toronto Raptors.

Additions/Subtractions – The Raptors were able to sign the best free-agent in this year’s weak class, Hedo Turkoglu. He left Orlando for Toronto because of money and the international feel of Toronto. I don’t know if that is why someone who sign with a team, but Turkoglu’s wife made the decision. Jarrett Jack was another off-season addition to this team, he adds depth at point guard and has played at a high level in the NBA for a few years. DeMar DeRozen was their lottery pick and he should help this offense out, but he could be a year or two away from being any help on the defensive end of the floor. He could become the star of the team after Chris Bosh leaves after this season.

2009-10 Expectations – Jay Triano took over after the first month of the season last year and went 25-40 as the head coach last year. The Raptors are expecting big things from this team, since they went out and signed Turkoglu and this could be their last year with Chris Bosh on the team. He’s a free-agent after this season and he has dropped hints that he is bolting after this season. If the Raptors somehow end up out of the playoff race before the trading deadline, you could see Bosh being sent to a contender for something in return. If you are Toronto, you can’t afford to let him walk without getting something back. Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon are expected to live up to their potential this year. Bargnani had a good year in 2008-09, but he has yet to live up to the #1 overall pick status. He needs to prove that he can be the star this franchise needs and become a legitimate big man in the NBA. If the Raptors have a rough year, expect Triano to get fired and for them to go after a big name.

2009-10 Prediction – The Chris Bosh distraction may end up being too much for the Raptors to handle. The addition of Turkoglu and Jack should add wins to this team, but I expect Toronto to move Bosh at some point this season for young talent or draft picks. This team will regress this season and miss the playoffs again.

Jermaine O’Neal was traded to the Toronto Raptors for T.J. Ford and the #17 pick in the NBA Draft tomorrow night. O’Neal has been asking for a trade since Isiah Thomas was fired as the Pacers head coach. Last off-season a rumor swirled that he was going to the Lakers for either Lamar Odom or Andrew Bynum, but the Pacers wanted both of them and the Lakers didn’t move forward with the trade. The trade with Toronto could be a good thing for the Pacers, only if Ford stays healthy and the player selected at #17 can step in right away and help the troubled franchise.

Jermaine O’Neal hasn’t been the same since he was involved in the “Palace Brawl” a few seasons ago. After he served his suspension, he wasn’t the same on the court for the rest of that season and last couple years he has been out with various injuries. He is due to make 20+ million each of the next two seasons and the Pacers were smart to make a move for a point guard. Indiana needed to either make a move and trade for a point guard or draft a point guard (who would have either been D.J. Augustin or Russel Westbrook). Augustin is in the same mold as their current point guard Jamaal Tinsley, he can make plays, but either have a consistent jumpshot, same could be said for Ford. The different between Tinsley and Ford/Augustin is that they haven’t been a team disruption off the court. Tinsley will still end up on the team ’cause he has a large salary, but with Ford starting and Tinsley coming off the bench, their backcourt could be pretty nice.

On the Toronto side of this, you have a GM in Colangelo that is used to winning. He plays a faster style of basketball and Jose Calderon seems like a better fit at point guard. The front court of Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal will give the Eastern Conference a migraine. Toronto takes on a huge contract for the next two seasons, but with the addition of O’Neal, if he stays healthy, can cement a playoff spot next season.

I’m not defending Larry Bird as team president, but I have faith that the moves he is making is going to eventually make sense. I admit that the Harrington/Jackson to Golden State for Murphy/Dunleavy still makes no sense, but Jackson was a distraction and they had to package Harrington with him to send him packing.

The color barrier may be broken this year if the Pacers pick another white guy with the #11 or #17 picks tomorrow. I think that Joe Alexander or Kosta Koufos are on their radar, but it isn’t certain that Alexander will be there at #11 or Koufos will be there at #17. If they pick either one, they could actually put a five white guys on the floor at once. Jeff Foster, Travis Diener, Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, and either one of the draft picks. As “America’s White Boy,” it would be a proud moment in white boy history. I am not sure what is up with Bird, but before he came in, the only white boy on the team was either Rik Smits or Detlef Schrempf (Austin Croshere was around, but I choose not to remember his tenure). Larry Bird is down with the white boy and I my friend, am down with Bird.